The Greatest Gift
by My Whole Life Is Thunder
Summary: On Christmas Eve, Jimmy and Breena get an unexpected but welcome gift. Spoilers for "House Rules" so if you haven't seen that episode or been online. You've been warned.
1. Surprise

Breena lowered herself into the seat beside Jimmy. The two had attended midnight mass almost every year since they had been together. Jimmy was somewhat amazed that Breena had felt up to attending the service this year. Pregnancy was exhausting as is but Christmas Eve had been a long and emotional day for them. They had lunch with Ducky and his friend Veronica, followed by dinner with Ed, his girlfriend Debbie, and Breena's aunt, uncle, and cousins. That morning was hard because they had attended the funeral of Admiral John McGee. Even though McGee hadn't told his co-workers about his father's decline and eventual death. Penelope had called Ducky and he had passed it on to the other Bishop was the only one from McGee's circle at NCIS to not attend. Ellie and Jake sent their condolences but had already flown to Ohio to see Jake's family when they got the news. They were in the middle of singing "Angels We Have Heard On High" when Breena's cellphone began to vibrate. It took both her and Jimmy by surprise. Since it was typically Jimmy's phone that rang at inopportune times signaling him to go to NCIS or a crime scene. Breena quietly slipped out into the hallway and answered her phone. While Jimmy waited nervously fearing that something had happened to Ed or another member of the Slater family. A few minutes later Breena returned. Jimmy's heart sank when he saw the tears in her eyes.

"Come on Jimmy. We have to go." Breena sniffed.

"Is everything OK?" Jimmy asked.

"I will explain in the car. Just come on." Breena replied.

* * *

Jimmy stood and followed Breena back to their car. Dreading the news that was awaiting him when they arrived. Breena got in first and pulled the seat-belt over her swollen stomach. Jimmy fell into the passenger seat. He closed the door behind him and turned to face Breena.

"What's going on?" Jimmy asked.

"That was Sally from the adoption agency." Breena replied.

* * *

Jimmy was taken aback. Breena and him had met with a couple of potential birth mothers. Before Breena found out she was expecting but after they discovered their own pregnancy. They had opted to put an adoption off for a while. At least until after their baby was born and had become acclimated a little bit. Now they were getting a call from Sally. Less than three months before Breena was to give birth and over six months after their last interaction.

"Sally? What did she want?" Jimmy asked.

"Do you remember the birth mother we talked to just before I got pregnant?" Breena asked.

"Dana?" Jimmy asked.

"That's her" Breena replied.

"What about her?" Jimmy asked.

"The couple she picked realized they couldn't handle it and surrendered her. They want us to adopt the little girl." Breena replied.

"They do?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah. We have to get to the agency right away." Breena replied.

"So we get this baby girl and our baby boy?" Jimmy asked astonished.

"Yes" Breena replied.

"That is the best thing ever." Jimmy replied.

"We really did get the best Christmas gift ever didn't we?" Breena asked.

"Yes we did." Jimmy replied.

* * *

Breena drove as fast as she legally could to the adoption agency. This certainly wasn't the way they expected to be spending Christmas morning but it was certainly a welcome surprise. They parked their car and raced into the agency. Sally was rocking a small infant in a pink blanket.

"Mr. and Mrs. Palmer? This is Mary." Sally introduced.

"She's beautiful." Jimmy cooed looking into his new daughter's blue eyes and olive skin. She had a tuft of black hair on top of her head.

"Hi Mary, we are your new parents." Breena greeted.

"She is four and a half months old and very healthy." Sally replied.

"Why did her adoptive parents give her up?" Jimmy asked.

"They were older and had seven other adoptive children. Two of whom have severe issues and they just couldn't handle the little one." Sally explained.

"Well we can handle her." Jimmy replied.

"Yes we can." Breena replied.

"Merry Christmas, Mary we love you." Jimmy said.

* * *

**A/N: I plan on having a second chapter where the Palmer's introduce their new daughter to everybody from NCIS. That will be up sometime today. Please review and thanks for reading.**


	2. Meet The Family

Mary was a sweet and happy baby what she wasn't was a good sleeper. Jimmy sent Breena to get a little sleep. While he stayed up with baby Mary. He rocked his little girl in his arms until she finally fell asleep. When he placed her in the crib though she started to scream again. So Jimmy picked her back up and sat back down in the rocking chair. He hoped this wouldn't become a thing. That Mary was just adjusting to the change and would be a better sleeper in the coming days. He looked around the nursery with it's blue walls and train theme. Jimmy didn't necessarily believe in gender stereotypes but this nursery was done up for their son. Just a few months ago the room had been pink and decorated from the girl they were supposed to adopt. After the mother changed her mind Jimmy had painted the walls back to white and Ducky took everything to the storage unit he had rented after his mother died. After they found out about Breena's pregnancy they got the crib and furniture back but not until after they got the results of the sonogram saying that Breena was having a boy. They painted everything to be blue for a boy and bought new clothes and toys. While still using the more gender neutral clothes. Jimmy knew they couldn't afford all new furniture and a bunch of new clothes and that most of the furniture had been Breena's when she was a baby but he still wished they could get rid of that stuff and get all knew when the baby arrived. Now he was glad to have kept all the girl stuff because it was clear they were going to need the clothes and toys. They would also need a new crib and a few other things since they were going to have two children. Mary finally fell asleep for good at a little after five. Jimmy stuck around for a while. Just in case she didn't stay asleep. Luckily this time she did stay asleep. So Jimmy was able to go back to bed with Breena. He walked across the hall. Breena grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Merry Christmas, I am blessed to have a man who is willing to stay up all night with the baby so that I can sleep." Breena said.

"It's no problem, now lets get some sleep. We have to be at Gibbs's house at one." Jimmy replied.

"Do they know?" Breena asked.

"No it is early and besides I want to surprise them." Jimmy replied.

* * *

That afternoon everybody had gathered at Gibbs's house. Everybody except Bishop, Jimmy and Breena that is. They had known for months that Bishop was planning on spending the holiday with her husbands family but the Palmer's were more of a shock. When Gibbs spoke with them at Admiral McGee's funeral they had said they would be there for sure. They were only a half hour late but it was still concerning that they hadn't arrived. McGee, Gibbs, and Ducky were lined up on the couch and Abby was on the chair. Tony was dancing around with the flashing snow man decoration Abby given Gibbs, on his head. Even though McGee had told him repeatedly that he did not need to be cheered up. Their was a knock on the door, Gibbs yelled for whoever it was to come in and Jimmy entered looking disheveled.

"Jimmy are you alright, man?" Tony asked setting the snowman on the floor.

"I am fine for a guy who got a baby last night." Jimmy replied.

"Breena had the baby last night?" Ducky asked.

"But it is too early!" Abby cried.

"Is everybody alright?" McGee asked.

"Shouldn't you be at the hospital?" Gibbs questioned.

"This early it will have to be in the NICU. That's so scary." Tony replied.

"I didn't say I had a baby. I said I got a baby." Jimmy replied.

"What are you talking about?" Ducky asked.

"Breena come on, in!" Jimmy called.

* * *

Breena walked through the front door and into the living room, carrying the tiny pink bundle. She walked over and stopped in front of the team.

"Everybody this is Mary." Breena introduced.

"Aw! She is adorable! Where did she come from!" Abby cried.

"She is cute." McGee added.

"She is a precious child." Ducky commented.

"I thought you were putting the adoption on hold for a bit." Tony recalled.

"She is amazing but Tony's right. Where did she come from?" Gibbs asked.

"We got the call last night. We had talked to her mom before Breena found out she was pregnant. She liked us but hadn't made the decision when we backed out. She chose one of the two other couples but they realized they couldn't handle her after Mary was born and the other couple had already adopted a set of twins. So they called us and we agreed." Jimmy explained.

"We got the greatest gift of all." Breena replied.

"Yes you did" Everybody agreed.

* * *

The team sat down together and spent the afternoon celebrating the Lord's birth and enjoying the Palmer's surprise arrival.

* * *

**END**

**A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thanks for reading.**


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